The prowler soared upwards towards the large Covenant ship, Asher piloted the craft flawlessly. I took a look around the loading bay and watched my team prepare for this mission.
Shane was stowing his beloved children’s book titled “The Hilarious Misadventures of The Muskrat,” by D. Hammerbush. I once asked him why he took the book with him on every posting, he replied by telling me it was his good luck charm. Luck was in short supply nowadays.
James was spot checking Connor’s DMR, looking for anything that could cause problems during the boarding.
Connor was carving “Made with love, from Connor,” onto the HAVOC as a gift to the Covvies.
The Master Chief and I watched the external camera display, watching the ship slowly take up the entire screen.
“Asher, sitrep.” I said.
“Banshee patrols are sparse but there, no indication we have been spotted.”
“What’s the play?” Chief asked.
“Infiltrate via the hangar bay and arm the HAVOC with the spare fuse we found, hide the HAVOC in a spirit, and hope that both HAVOCs go off at the same time.” Shane stood and took the bomb from Connor, placing it tenderly onto his belt.
“We only got one shot, let’s make this count.” James said as he returned Connor’s DMR.
“I wish I had a C-01.” Connor muttered under his breath. Referring to a popular energy drink.
“Docking with the carrier, I’ll do a few laps away from the ship while you get the HAVOC armed.” Asher announced.
The bay door swung open, Grunts immediately screamed and ran off as we opened fire. An Elite stepped from cover, a burst from the Chief’s MA5C put him down.
“Get that HAVOC online.” The Chief ordered, we hopped from the prowler and Asher dove downward. Shane removed the HAVOC from his belt and began to type away at the small keyboard. Grunts began to rush the hangar bay, Connor took out two while I knocked down the rest
“Shane, how much longer—.” A spike struck James mid sentence, I rushed over to James to assess his condition.
“Imps, we’ll crush you flat!” A booming voice roared. The unmistakable voice of a Brute.
“You take care of him, I’ll deal with the Brutes.” Chief said before charging forward.
I dropped to a knee and checked James. The spike went through his shoulder, not leaving much of his arm connected to the rest of him. I didn’t have the proper tools to amputate, so I cinched it down a tourniquet and hoped it would be enough.
“Asher, we have a man down. We need a hot extract!” I shouted into my radio.
“Banshees spotted me, I’m trying to shake them.” I growled and left James to give Shane some cover. I caught a glimpse of the Chief beating down a Brute, two others lay around him with purple fluid spilling across the floor.
“Shane, how much longer!” I asked.
“Four minutes.” Came the reply.
“Asher, we got four minutes, be here!”
“I’ll do what I can.”
I looked over to check on James covered the Chief as more grunts rushed the bay. The Chief finished tenderizing the Brute and retreated to cover, his MA5C roared as it cut through swaths of alien enemies. Shane tossed the HAVOC into a spirit and rejoined the efforts.
“HAVOC is ready, we got three minutes till this ship is slag!”
“Asher, three minutes!”
“Hang on.” The prowler appeared from above and backed into the hangar. The bay door opened and we charged in, the Chief grabbed James and pulled him in. Asher closed the door and shot the prowler into atmosphere, banshees hot on our tail. With no defenses on the prowler, getting to slipspace was our only escape. Hot plasma scorched the plating of the ship, Asher entered the slipstream and left the banshees in the dust.
Asher entered the troop bay, sweat had drenched her red hair.
“How long till we get to human controlled space?” I asked, watching the Chief patch James up.
“About a week, we should have enough rations to last.” She returned to the cockpit and we all took a breath, just hoping for some shore leave after this.
I removed a worn picture of me, my wife, and our cat at a park with a picnic basket.
“I’m coming home,” I whispered before placing the picture back into a storage case on my belt. I removed my helmet and closed my eyes, dreaming about home and Shaiann tending to her rose garden.
